The owner of a California car wash who paid employees two checks per pay period to avoid paying overtime now has to pay more than $200,000 for violating federal labor laws, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced recently.
The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) recovered $202,192 in back wages and liquidated damages from MG Petroleum Inc. for 13 employees whom the company "shortchanged," the agency announced Oct. 24. MG Petroleum operates the Rancho Carwash in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., a gas station, mini market and car wash, according to the announcement.
WHD investigators determined the company "attempted to hide its illegal actions giving workers two paychecks: one for the first 40 hours worked, and a second for overtime hours paid at straight-time rates, without legally required overtime premium," the agency states in the announcement.
Workers were also made to take lunch breaks "as customer demand dictated," the report states. The practice made it impossible for workers to take an uninterrupted one-hour lunch break but they were still docked an average of four hours per week for meal breaks, according to the report.
Employers are required by federal law to pay their employees "all their hard-earned wages," WHD Assistant District Director Gayane Aleksanian said in the report, "including overtime pay for hours employees work over 40 in a workweek.”
“Rancho Carwash’s operator denied workers their overtime pay and then attempted to hide their illegal pay practices," Aleksanian said. "The costly consequences for their violations and their attempt to evade the law are now clear.”
Aleksanian said businesses are still struggling to hire and keep workers, and "those who respect workers’ rights to be paid their full wages and avoid violations are more likely to succeed in retaining and recruiting employees."
